New Delhi:

Polling for the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha election began today with voting taking place in 49 seats across six states and the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. States where voting will take place are Uttar Pradesh (14), Maharashtra (13), Bengal (7), Odisha and Bihar (5), and Jharkhand (3), as also one seat each in J&K and Ladakh. In addition, 35 Assembly seats in Odisha will also vote.

This will be the smallest of the seven phases in this election but will still feature some big names, including Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who will contest from the family stronghold of Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh – won in the past five elections by his mother Sonia Gandhi. This will be his second contest this election; he fought from Kerala’s Wayanad, which voted April 26. He won the seat last year, allowing him to remain a MP after a shock defeat to the BJP’s Smriti Irani in UP’s other Congress bastion, Amethi.

READ | Called “Gandhis’ Chaprasi” By BJP Leader, Congress’s Amethi Pick Says

Amethi will also vote today, with senior Congress leader Kishori Lal Sharma looking to win back the seat. Mr Sharma, seen by many as a second-choice candidate after Rahul Gandhi’s sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, declined another invitation to make her electoral debut.

READ | Rahul Gandhi Files Papers From Raebareli, Gandhis Opt Out Of Amethi

Smriti Irani will attempt to defend her Amethi seat in this election.

The suspense over who from the Congress would contest these two (very) high-profile seats was among the biggest headlines leading up to this phase of the election, with even party boss Mallikarjun Kharge leaving the decision up to Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is also on the ballot.

He contests from Lucknow and is aiming for a hat-trick, with the Samajwadi Party’s Ravidas Mehrotra his big rival. The SP is part of the INDIA bloc and has been backed in this campaign by the Congress.

Kaiserganj has also become a headline seat as it was the constituency of ex-national wrestling body chief Brij Bhushan Singh, who was dropped after the BJP came under heavy pressure over allegations of sexual assault against him. His son, instead, has been fielded.

READ | Like My Father, Will Be There For You: Brij Bhushan’s Son To Voters

Away from UP, the six Lok Sabha seats of Mumbai are also voting in this phase. 

Maharashtra politics has seen a series of swings and U-turns since the 2019 state election, which saw the Shiv Sena and the BJP part ways, and the latter form an unlikely alliance with the Congress and Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party.

However, since then both the Sena and the NCP have gone through civil wars and seen rebel factions join the BJP (and being rewarded with a chief minister and deputy chief minister’s post), leading to a controversial change of government and strengthening of the BJP’s hand for this election.

Mumbai’s six seats have been divided amongst the two big alliances at play in this election – the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and the Congress-led INDIA bloc.

The big names on the ballots in Indian’s financial capital include Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, who will contest from Mumbai (North) against the Congress’ Bhushan Patil. 

Mumbai’s North-West, South-Central, and South seats will see grudge matches, with the original Sena (led by ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray) against those from the breakaway group (led by the current chief minister, Eknath Shinde). North-East seat will be a BJP vs Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) battle and it is the BJP vs the Congress for the North-Central seat.

In the 2019 election, the BJP and the (then) undivided Shiv Sena swept all six seats.

Other major seats in Maharashtra voting in this phase are Nashik and Palghar. 

Eknath Shinde’s Sena has fielded sitting MP Hemant Godse in Nashik, and he faces Rajabhau Waje from the Thackeray camp, while Palghar sees a more open contest.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (not an INDIA member), Mr Thackeray’s Sena, the BJP, and Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi – which had prolonged and ultimately fruitless and acrimonious talks with the Sena-Congress-NCP alliance – all fielding candidates. 

In Bihar, Lalu Prasad Yadav’s daughter, Rohini Acharya, is looking to win back the Saran seat that was won by the ex-Chief Minister in 2009, in the first election after it was formed.

READ | Lalu Yadav’s Daughter Rohini Acharya Against Father’s Namesake In Saran

Since then, though, it has been held by the BJP’s Rajiv Pratap Rudy. Another high-profile contest in the state is in Hajipur, which was the stronghold of late Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan.

Mr Paswan’s son, Chirag Paswan is leading one of the factions of the LJP that broke up after his death and has allied with the BJP. He faces Shiv Chandra Ram, a trusted aide of Lalu Prasad Yadav.

Ladakh, which saw a hunger fast by climate activist and environmental reformer Sonam Wangchuk in March over demands for statehood and protection of the fragile Himalayan ecology, sees a BJP vs Congress fight between Tashi Gyalsan and Tsering Namgyal.

J&K’s Baramulla seat is also voting. It will see ex-Chief Minister and National Conference boss Omar Abdullah looking to defend the seat won by Mohammad Akbar Lone in the last election.

READ | “J&K Faces Existential Threat”: Omar Abdullah On Article 370 Scrapping

He faces Sajjid Gani Lone of the Jammu and Kashmir’s People’s Conference and Fayaz Mir of the People’s Democratic Party, led by ex-Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.

The Congress and parties now with the INDIA bloc won nine of these 49 seats last time.

The BJP won 39 and will be hoping for a similarly emphatic result this time as it bids to achieve its target of 370 seats on its own and 400 with its NDA partners.

The sixth and seventh phases will take place on May 25 (when Delhi will vote) and June 1 (when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will contest from Varanasi in UP).

Results will be out on June 4.

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Amethi:

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday attacked BJP’s Amethi Lok Sabha seat candidate and sitting MP Smriti Irani, alleging that the region has “suffered” in the last five years as the BJP never thought about its development.

She was here to seek support for Congress’ candidate from the seat Kishori Lal Sharma, who she said has “dedicated his entire life to Amethi”. Priyanka Gandhi, who is the general secretary in the Congress, held a roadshow in Jasi town on the last day of campaigning for the seat that goes to polls on May 20 in the fifth round of the seven-phase general elections.

“He (Sharma) has been associated with Amethi for the last 40 years. He was associated with my father (Rajiv Gandhi) here, he also worked with my mother (Sonia Gandhi) and my elder brother Rahul Gandhi. He has dedicated his entire life to Amethi,” she said while addressing a gathering.

During the roadshow, which began from the Jais bus stand and ended at the Navjeet Intersection, Priyanka Gandhi and Sharma were seen waving at and greeting people from a vehicle. Flower petals were showered on them as the vehicle passed through the town.

“Amethi is my home and family, we have never stayed away from it and never will,” said Priyanka Gandhi, who was in Amethi and Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh to campaign for Sharma and Rahul Gandhi, respectively.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Rahul Gandhi had contested from Wayanad in Kerala and Amethi. He won from Wayanad but lost Amethi to Irani.

Targeting Ms Irani, the Congress leader said, “Amethi has suffered a lot in the last five years…” and “these people never thought about its development”. “Rahul was defeated (in 2019) as they mislead you,” she said.

“We understand our responsibility because Amethi is my home and family. We will keep working for this family. Along with Kishori Lal Sharma ji, Rahul Gandhi has also said this is my family and I will keep working for Amethi and Rae Bareli,” Priyanka Gandhi said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

As he seeks to retain the Rae Bareli seat represented by his mother Sonia Gandhi for two decades, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said he has an emotional family relationship with the people and will stand by both Amethi and Rae Bareli whenever required.

He shared an emotional video with his mother on social media, where he is seen watching family pictures in Amethi and Rae Bareli and remembered their connect with the people of both Amethi and Rae Bareli.

Rahul Gandhi is contesting the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat and is pitted against BJP’s Dinesh Pratap Singh, who had unsuccessfully contested the last Lok Sabha election against Sonia Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi was earlier an MP from Amethi but had lost to Smriti Irani in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

“Rae Bareli and Amethi are not just constituencies for us, they are our ‘karmabhoomi’, every corner of which is holding the memories of generations.

रायबरेली और अमेठी हमारे लिए सिर्फ चुनाव क्षेत्र नहीं, हमारी कर्मभूमि है, जिसका कोना कोना पीढ़ियों की यादें संजोए हुए है।

मां के साथ पुरानी तस्वीरें देखकर पापा और दादी की याद भी आ गयी, जिनकी शुरू की गयी सेवा की परंपरा मैंने और मां ने आगे बढ़ाई।

प्रेम और विश्वास की बुनियाद पर… pic.twitter.com/9RKgGG8qjb

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 14, 2024

“Looking at old photographs with my mother, I also remembered my father and grandmother, whose started this tradition of service and was carried forward by me and my mother,” he said in a post in Hindi on X.

“This relationship of more than 100 years old, built on the foundation of love and trust, has given us everything. Whenever Amethi and Rae Bareli calls us, we will be there,” he also said while sharing the video.

In the over 6-minute video, Sonia Gandhi said she started visiting Amethi in 1982 when they used to go there for holding medical camps and several good doctors from Delhi used to always work there and offer help.

“Panditji started this political life with the area in 1921 and a farmer leader Baba Ram Chandra shared his grief with Panditji. Rahul’s grandfather Feroze Gandhi was the MP from Rae Bareli in 1952,” she also said, adding that after his demise, his grandmother Indira Gandhi started representing Rae Bareli.

“We used to visit village to village during weddings or deaths and even visited during floods or drought and visited people during to attend villages. They accepted me immediately and I shared a relationship like a daughter and daughter-in-law,” Sonia Gandhi also said.

Mr said, “Our family has a relationship of over 100 years with Amethi and Rae Bareli”.

He added that his great grandfather started his politics against the British from Rae Bareli.

He also said that during Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, people of the area had come to them when an ITI was being shut in Rae Bareli and said, “we worked hard to save it as we wanted to save that technological spirit in the area.” “In 1982 when my father went there, he worked hard and initiated a lot of development work and transformed Amethi completely.

“In Rae Bareli, my grandmother had initiated a lot of development and it was ahead of Amethi. But, whn my father went to Amethi, he ushered in a lot of developmental works and then it looked as if Amethi is ahead of Rae Bareli,” he also said.

Then, he said, our government was formed and my mother and I initiated a lot of works and ensured road connectivity and constructed national highways and other roads. “We also started self help groups and helped lakhs of women and opened their bank accounts that transformed their lives.” Mr Gandhi said they also opened institutions there like the Petroleum institute and CRPF training camp.

“The biggest work that could have transformed Amethi and Rae areli, and was stopped by the BJP, was the food park, where 40 separate storage would have been created. I felt that that food park would have changed the face of Amethi and Rae Bareli.

“That is my plan for Rae Bareli, to connect Rae Bareli with the entire country and open up manufacturing units there. I would also want to set up a food processing unit there,” Mr Gandhi said.

“I also want to hear out the hearts of people of Rae Bareli and act on it. The works done by my grandmother and mother in Rae Bareli, I want to take that forward,” he noted.

“That relationship is different, it is like a family, friendship and affection. Like I have my relationship with my mother and sister, I have the same relationship with Rae Bareli. I also like the food there and the ‘Arhar ki Dal’ made there, you can’t find anywhere else. For me, Amethi and Rae Bareli are the same and whenever Amethi and Rae Bareli require us, we will be available,” Rahul Gandhi also said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Robert Vadra – Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s husband – has declared his backing for the party’s Lok Sabha election candidate from the Gandhi family stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.

After much suspnse the party said last week its senior leader from the state – KL Sharma – will contest a seat that had been dominated by the Gandhi clan till it was wrested from them in 2019, when Smriti Irani handed Rahul Gandhi a shock defeat.

Earlier there had been much speculation that Mr Vadra, who has never previously contested an election, could be chosen to fight a seat that has, in the past, been held by Mr Gandhi, his mother and ex-party boss Sonia Gandhi, and her husband, ex-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. 

READ | “If Amethi Wants Me…”: Robert Vadra Hints At Lok Sabha Polls

Mr Vadra, seen by a small section as an outside bet on a seat nobody from the Gandhi family seemed to want, had declared he would contest the election “… if the people of Amethi expect me to represent them… if I decide to become a Member of Parliament”.

Now, though, with Mr Sharma declared as the candidate, Mr Vadra seemed to backtrack.

VIDEO | Here’s what Robert Vadra said on wanting to contest Lok Sabha election from UP’s Amethi or Raebareli seat.

“Yes, I found a lot of people in Amethi and Raebareli who were very happy, excited and hopeful that I might take part, stand (in election) and represent them but… pic.twitter.com/ZepF1im5cm

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 8, 2024

“Yes, I found a lot of people in Amethi and Raebareli who were happy, excited, and hopeful that I might take part… stand (in the election) … and represent them, but the good news is Rahul Gandhi is amongst them… and I am very happy for Kishori Lal Sharma,” he said.

READ | “Robert Vadra Ab Ki Baar” Posters In Amethi Amid Gandhi Suspense

Mr Vadra continued: “… (KL Sharma) has worked in Amethi forever. He knows every area… every person. He can definitely bring the progress that Smriti Irani was not able to do.”

The Congress’ choice of KL Sharma has been heavily criticised by the BJP. 

There had previously been speculation of a blockbuster double-billing for the UP election, which would see Rahul Gandhi return to contest Amethi and Mrs Gandhi Vadra make her electoral debut from Raebareli, the seat held for decades by her mother, Sonia Gandhi.

Eventually though Mrs Gandhi Vadra opted against contesting the poll and Mr Gandhi chose to defend the Raebareli seat, saying he had been instructed to do so by his mother. 

READ | BJP Leader Calls Him “Gandhis’ Chaprasi”, Congress’ Amethi Pick Replies

In response, Smriti Irani took a fierce jab at the Gandhi family and the Congress, saying that absence from Amethi meant the BJP’s rivals had accepted defeat even before polling.

“Gandhi family not being present in the election fray in Amethi indicates that Congress party has accepted its defeat in Amethi even before the polling on the seat,” Ms Irani, the sitting MP from Amethi, told reporters.

“Had they felt there was any chance of victory on the seat, they would have contested from here and not fielded their proxy,” the BJP leader said, referring to KL Sharma.

Ms Irani took a swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who filed his nomination from Raebareli today, saying, “the one who was not accepted by Amethi and fled to Wayanad will never fully belong to Rae Bareli.”

With input from PTI

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New Delhi:

Congress’s Rahul Gandhi has shifted to Uttar Pradesh’s Raebareli, leaving Amethi to family loyalist and party leader KL Sharma. But he was the opponent who is being targeted by the BJP’s Union minister Smriti Irani, the sitting MP of Amethi. Ms Irani, who wrested Amethi from Rahul Gandhi in 2019, is hoping for a second consecutive term.  

Speaking at a rally today, Ms Irani targeted Mr Gandhi over the recent comments in his support from a leader in Pakistan.

“Till now I used to contest against Congress candidate, but now a Pakistani leader has said Smriti Irani should be defeated,” Ms Irani said to loud cheers.

“I thought ‘You cannot handle Pakistan, you are worrying about Amethi?’… If my voice is reaching the Pakistani leader, I want to say that this is the Amethi where Prime Minister Modi has built a factory of AK 203 rifle, that rifle is used to kill Pakistani terrorists on the border,” she added.

Then came the attack on Mr Gandhi. “Today I want to ask, ‘What is this relationship of Pakistan with Rahul Gandhi called? Elections are going on in the country but you (Rahul Gandhi) are getting support abroad, and did not condemn it,” she added.

Last week, former Pakistan minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain had praised Rahul Gandhi in a post on social media. Mr Gandhi since has been targeted by the BJP on this issue. Most leaders, starting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had questioned his “Pakistan connection”.

Last week, PM Modi had alleged a “partnership” between the Congress and Pakistan, saying it now stands “fully exposed”.

“You must have come to know that a Pakistani leader is offering prayers for the Congress. Pakistan is impatient to make Shehzada (Rahul Gandhi) the Prime Minister… And we know that the Congress is a disciple of Pakistan,” he had said.  

Mr Gandhi, who has contested from Wayanad, was announced last week as the candidate or Raebareli, the constituency vacated by his mother Sonia Gandhi as she shifted to the Rajya Sabha.

Mr Gandhi was widely expected to attempt to win back Amethi, which sent him to the Lok Sabha thrice. His shift to Raebareli – described by many Congress leaders as a strategic move – had brought ridicule from the BJP. PM Modi had said that he should not run but stand and fight.

New Delhi:

Exuding confidence after the Congress decided not to field Rahul Gandhi against her in Amethi, Union Minister Smriti Irani has said this is a sign of the Congress conceding the 79th out of Uttar Pradesh’s 80 Lok Sabha seats to the BJP and that her party managing a clean sweep in the state is a possibility. 

Speaking exclusively to NDTV on Friday, after it was revealed that Mr Gandhi, whom she had defeated in 2019, would not be contesting against her but would fight from Raebareli, Ms Irani said it was a matter of pride for her that “an ordinary BJP worker had sent the Gandhi family packing”. Raebareli was the only seat that the Congress had won in Uttar Pradesh in 2019.

Asked about how she saw the developments of the day, the Women And Child Development minister said, “I think the Congress nomination and the entire Gandhi family backing out from a battle in Amethi is significant because, as far as I am concerned, it is the proclamation of defeat of the Congress party from Amethi.”

On Kishori Lal Sharma, a Gandhi family loyalist who has worked in Amethi for 40 years, getting the ticket instead and the Congress claiming that it was giving a chance to a grassroots worker, Ms Irani said people who have seen enough politics would know when they are being “hoodwinked”.

“If there was an iota of chance of the Gandhi family winning, they would have fought the battle here in Amethi,” she claimed. 

To a question on whether she would have wanted Rahul Gandhi to contest, Ms Irani said she had already created history in 2019 when she defeated the sitting Congress president. 

“This is not the first time Mr Rahul Gandhi has run away from Amethi. He had run away in 2019 as well. The only difference is last time he sought comfort in Wayanad and this time he chose not to contest at all. So it is the second time Mr Gandhi shied away from a battle in Amethi,” she said. 

‘Have Done Much In Life’

Asked whether she would have like to challenge him in Amethi as well, she said, “I think you give him too much importance. I am a self-made woman. I have had a 2.5-decade successful career in media. I have been an MP. I have been announced as the World Economic Forum global leader in 2015 itself… I have done much in life. I don’t need a Rahul Gandhi chase to make my career or my name.”

“And by the way, I have done it without having a politician who is a father to me and the ‘karta dharta’ (prime mover) of an entire political organisation. So I have done it without comfort and at personal cost, Mr Gandhi, unfortunately, has not only let down his whole political organisation, but also his family legacy. I think it speaks volumes that an ordinary worker of the BJP could defeat the Gandhi scion. And, today, an ordinary worker of the BJP had the entire family packed away,” she added.

Moving to the Raebareli battle, where Mr Gandhi is up against Dinesh Pratap Singh, who had lost the seat in 2019, the minister said if the Congress leader was confident of winning from there, he would not have been contesting from Wayanad – where he is the sitting MP – as well. She said if the Gandhis were confident, former Congress President Sonia Gandhi would not have given up the constituency.

‘Death Knell’

On Robert Vadra saying he wanted to contest from Amethi, Ms Irani said, “I think if Sonia Gandhi doesn’t think her son-in-law is competent enough to be in Indian politics, that’s a decision for Mrs Gandhi to take. It’s nothing for me to ponder about.”

Insisting that the Congress will not be able to do well in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, she said, “I think the proclamation from Amethi itself is indicative that this is the last death knell in the political coffin of the Congress Party… The 79th (seat in Uttar Pradesh) was proclaimed by the Congress party itself that they are losing. The 80th is Raebareli. Mr Gandhi will surely lose from there. Else he would have never fought from Wayanad.”

Taking another dig at her former opponent, she added, “Do remember Mr Gandhi is not fighting this battle alone. He has taken the support of the Samajwadi Party. So what kind of a leader is this, who can’t fight his own battles alone?”

Not Worthy?

Ms Irani claimed that the Congress party has declared her victory in Amethi with its decision and when she was asked whether Mr Sharma is a worthy opponent, she said, “Was Rahul Gandhi worthy in 2019? He was an absentee MP. I’m a two-term MP who has never been absent. as compared to Mr Rahul Gandhi. My spend of MP local area development funds and my record in Parliament has been pretty decent.”

“So compared to somebody who is self-made and has been a productive MP, do you think an absentee MP who depended on a family name to become a politician is a worthy opponent for a person like me,” she asked. 

“I have been an MP only for five years as compared to 50 years of the Gandhi family. I’m grateful that people in these five years have decided that I make for a better public representative than the Gandhis who were here for 50 years, and especially Mr Rahul Gandhi was here as an absentee MP for 15 years. The comparison was stark, and that is why the Gandhi family withdrew from contesting from its so-called family bastion,” she said.

Called a giant slayer, Ms Irani said Rahul Gandhi is “hardly a giant” and continued, “The writing is on the wall. As far as Amethi goes, they have woken up and smelled the coffee. I’m sure they will be coming to many realities on the fourth of June. The citizen had fallen long ago. They have now woken up to that reality.”

Claiming that Mr Gandhi was not transparent with the voters of Wayanad in 2019 about fighting another seat, the BJP leader said the decision not to field a member of the Gandhi family from Amethi indicates that the Congress knows that it is not well positioned in Uttar Pradesh.

‘Ordinary Worker’

On whether she thought 80 on 80 is achievable in Uttar Pradesh she said, “Today is a great indicator of what is available in terms of political realities vis a vis the Congress Party. It is the Congress Party that has concluded that if any member of the Gandhi family fights Amethi, they will lose. It is not a conclusion by the BJP. That the Gandhi family felt it not it did not have even a fighting chance in Amethi speaks volumes.

“Because remember this they are the first family of Indian politics. And I’m just an ordinary BJP worker. That an ordinary BJP worker could send them packing away speaks volumes about what awaits them on the fourth of June,” she added.

New Delhi:

Union Minister Smriti Irani today taunted the Gandhis for fielding a “proxy” from the Amethi constituency and not one of the family members to reclaim their lost fortress.

The Congress ended the Amethi suspense this morning, on the last day of filing nominations, and fielded KL Sharma, a loyalist of the Gandhi family, for the seat.

The Gandhis would have fought themselves and not fielded a proxy if they felt they could win, Ms Irani told reporters.

“We will not leave any stone unturned in welcoming our guests. Congress’s decision to not field anyone from the Gandhi family in Amethi signifies that it has accepted defeat even before voting takes place,” said the actor-turned-politician.

The Congress decision to field a non-Gandhi candidate from Amethi came amid speculations that Rahul Gandhi will try to win back the seat that he had won thrice in the past. But Mr Gandhi was named for Raebareli, which was vacated by his mother Sonia Gandhi and is a second seat for him after Wayanad (Kerala).

He had won Amethi in 2004, 2009, and 2014, but a shock defeat to Ms Irani in 2019 reduced the Congress’s UP footprint. He had contested Wayanad in 2019 as a second seat and won it to retain his MP status.

Mr Gandhi reached Raebareli on a chartered flight this morning after his party announced him as a candidate. He will be filing his nomination later in the day. Sonia Gandhi, his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and his top aides are also accompanying him for filing his nomination.

Congress’s Rahul Gandhi may contest from Raebareli – the seat vacated by his mother Sonia Gandhi — and the party could field senior leader and longtime Gandhi family loyalist KL Sharma from Amethi, sources have told NDTV. The Gandhi siblings were told to take a call on the issue by Thursday night, but the party is yet to make a formal announcement.  Friday is the last date for filing of nomination.

At a meeting with Mr Gandhi on Thursday evening, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge had suggested that both siblings contest, but left the final decision to them in view of their “knowledge of the ground reality”.

KL Sharma is one of the close aides of the Gandhi family and represented Sonia Gandhi in the constituency when she was its MP. Mrs Gandhi has now moved onto the Rajya Sabha, leaving a vacuum in which Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was expected to step in.   

Ms Gandhi Vadra, though, remains firm on her decision not to contest despite much pressure. Party sources hinted that her reluctance stems from the fact that her victory from Raebareli would place all three Gandhi family members in parliament, reinforcing the BJP accusation of dynasty politics.

Sources said Mr Kharge had suggested to Mr Gandhi that he and his sister both contest from the two seats, their family bastions for decades. Not contesting would send a wrong message, and its ramification would be felt not just in Uttar Pradesh but the rest of the country.

The Congress has been delaying the decision on candidates for the two seats for weeks. As the tension escalate, Congress workers went into protest mode in Amethi earlier this week, seeking a member of the Gandhi family as candidate. Election for both seats is due on May 20, the fifth phase.

New Delhi:

Congress’s Rahul Gandhi and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge are having a meeting to decide on the candidates for Amethi and Raebareli, where the last date for filing of nomination is Friday. The party had handed Mr Kharge the responsibility of choosing a candidate, sources have said. The two leaders are expected to arrive at a decision after the meeting, which is being held in Karnataka, where Mr Gandhi has gone for campaigning.

Sources said while Mr Gandhi is expected to contest on one seat, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra still remains firm on her decision not to contest despite much pressure. There was widespread expectation that she would step into her mother’s shoes in Raebareli.

The Congress has been delaying the decision for weeks. But now, the time has almost run out. Two days ago, Congress workers went into protest mode in Amethi, seeking a member of the Gandhi family as candidate.  

Election for both seats is due on May 20, the fifth phase.

There are reports that Rahul Gandhi may not be interested in contesting from Amethi. A victory would mean that he might have to surrender the Kerala seat, which sent him to the Lok Sabha in 2019.

Party sources hinted that Ms Gandhi Vadra’s reluctance stems from the fact that her victory from Raebareli would place all three Gandhi family members in parliament, reinforcing the BJP accusation of dynasty politics. Sonia Gandhi, who till now represented Raebareli, has moved onto Rajya Sabha.

The Congress feels much rides on the decision on these two key seats — the party expects it to set the tone for the rest of the election. Polls on 353 seats will be held in the remaining five phases. Of these seats, the Congress is contesting on 330 — the BJP has won the Surat and Indore seats without a contest.

This is the lowest number of seats the Congress has contested in since Independence. The reason is the united front the Opposition is putting up and many of the seats have been conceded to allies in various states.

A screenshot of a a purported press release by the Congress, which mentions Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as party’s candidates for the prestigious Amethi and Raebareli constituencies respectively in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, has gone viral on social media. Some other users claimed that Rahul Gandhi will contest from Raebareli, while the party has fielded Priyanka Gandhi from Amethi. In its investigation, the PTI Fact Check Desk found that the press releases shared in the name of Congress were fake. The party is yet to announce its candidates for the two high-profile seats in Uttar Pradesh.   

The alleged list of candidates by the Congress is being shared amid the party maintaining suspense over the names of its candidates for the two seats.  

Claim

A Facebook user shared on April 30 a screenshot of a purported press release issued by the Congress, according to which Rahul Gandhi will contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Amethi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will contest from Raebareli.

Here is the link and archive link to the post, and below is a screenshot of the same:

Investigation

Starting the investigation, the Desk ran the screenshot through Google Lens and found that several other Facebook users had shared it along with the same claim.

Two such posts can be seen here and here, and their archived versions can be seen here and here, respectively.

Several X (formerly Twitter) users also shared the same screenshot with the same claim.

The Desk also came across another Facebook post, carrying a screenshot of another purported press release by the Congress, which Rahul Gandhi as party’s candidate from Raebareli and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from Amethi.

Here is the link and archive link to the post, and below is a screenshot of the same:

In the next part of investigation, the Desk scanned the social media handles (X and Facebook) of Congress, but could not find any such press release as mentioned in the viral social media posts.

We, however, came across a list of four Lok Sabha candidates released by the party at 8:22 pm on April 30. The list included the names of Raj Babbar, Anand Sharma, Satpal Raizada and Bhushan Patil.

In the next part of investigation, the Desk conducted a customised Google search and found a news report by Hindustan Times, published at 10:08 pm on April 30.

The headline of the report read: “Cong fields Anand Sharma, Raj Babbar; suspense continues over Amethi, Rae Bareli”.

“The party, however, is yet to announce its candidates from Amethi and Rae Bareli. The last date of filing nominations for the two seats is on May 3. A senior leader who recently met Rahul Gandhi said, the latter only smiled when party leaders told him that the media’s entire focus is on the possible Congress candidates in the two seats,” read a section of the report.

“Last week, the members of the Congress’ Central Election Committee (CEC) unanimously supported a proposal moved by the party’s Uttar Pradesh in-charge Avinash Pandey to field former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi from the two Gandhi family bastions, Amethi and Raebareli, said two members of the poll panel,” it added.

Here is the link to the report.

Meanwhile, we came across another report by Economic Times, published on April 30, 2024, whose headline read: “Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi may not contest from Amethi and Rae Bareli: Report”.

Here is the link to the report.

The Desk also found Congress leader Dr Vineet Punia who said that the purported screenshots were fake.

Subsequently, the Desk concluded that fake screenshots were shared on social media in the name of Congress press releases.

CLAIM
Congress named Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as its candidates from Amethi and Raebareli Lok Sabha seats.

FACT
The screenshots shared as Congress press releases are fake. The party is yet to announce its candidates on the two seats.

CONCLUSION

Several social media users shared screenshots of two purported press releases by Congress, which named Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as the candidates from Amethi and Raebareli Lok Sabha seats. In its investigation, the Desk found that fake screenshots were shared in the name of Congress on social media.

(This story was originally published by PTI Fact Check, and republished by NDTV as part of the Shakti Collective.)